Signing up and starting your trial

You can create a MotoDealerHQ dealership yourself in a few minutes from motodealerhq.com. Signing up gives you a private, empty dealership with its own console and website. Nothing is public until you finish the setup wizard and the MotoDealerHQ team approves your go-live request.

Before you start #

• Use a work email you can open right now. The confirmation link goes there.
• Choose a password of at least 12 characters. It can't be a common password, a long run of one character, or contain the name part of your email.
• Pick a short web address for your dealership, such as harbortrail. Your website starts at harbortrail.motodealerhq.com. You can add your own domain later (see Domains and HTTPS).

Compare the plans #

Open Pricing on motodealerhq.com to see what each plan includes and how long its free trial lasts.

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1. Plan. Each card lists the features and limits (locations, staff accounts, vehicles, import sources, API keys) that come with the plan.
2. Trial length. The button shows how many days the free trial lasts. MotoDealerHQ sets trial lengths per plan, so they can change.

Create your account #

1. On motodealerhq.com, select Start free trial (or a plan's trial button on Pricing).
2. Fill in the form and select Create account.
3. Check your inbox for "Confirm your email to create your dealership". For privacy, the page always says a link is on its way, even if the address can't receive mail. If nothing arrives, check spam, then sign up again.

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1. Your name. Shown to your team in the console.
2. Work email. This becomes your sign-in and receives the confirmation link.
3. Password. At least 12 characters.
4. Terms. You must agree to the terms of service and privacy policy.
5. Create account. Sends the confirmation email.

Name your dealership #

1. Open the link in the email. It works once and expires after 48 hours.
2. Fill in:
   • Dealership name.
   • Website address: 2 to 63 lowercase letters, numbers or hyphens. Some names (like admin, dealer, api or www) are reserved, and each address can belong to only one dealership.
   • Dealership type: Powersports, Motorcycle, Automotive, Marine, RV or General.
   • Website theme: Powersports / motorcycle, Automotive or General dealership. You can change it later under Website › Theme & branding.
   • Plan: each option shows its trial length.
3. Select Create dealership.
4. On "Your dealership is ready", select Go to the dealer console and sign in at dealer.motodealerhq.com.

If your email already has a MotoDealerHQ account (for example, you work at another dealership on the platform), the new dealership is added to that account. Sign in with your existing password. After signing in you can switch between your dealerships.

Your first sign-in #

As the dealership owner you must use two-factor sign-in. On your first sign-in, the console asks you to add MotoDealerHQ to an authenticator app and save your recovery codes. See Users, roles and two-factor sign-in for the details.

Then open the setup wizard. It walks you through everything needed before your website can go live.

What you start with #

• A draft dealership with no vehicles and no customers.
• A private website built from your chosen theme, with starter pages. Search engines can't see it, and visitors can't open it. You can look at it through a private preview link.
• The standard set of roles (Tenant Owner, General Manager, Salesperson and others), with you as Tenant Owner.
• The plan you picked, with its features and limits shown under Settings › Billing.

How the trial works #

1. Draft. While you set up, your dealership is a draft. The console works normally, but the public website, the API, imports and automated workflows stay off.
2. Go-live approval. When you request go-live from the setup wizard and the MotoDealerHQ team approves it, your website becomes public and your dealership moves to trial.
3. During the trial. You can switch plans yourself on Settings › Billing, and the change applies right away as long as your usage fits the new plan. If a trial end date is set, Billing shows it ("Trial ends …").
4. When the trial ends. If there is a paid invoice on record, your account becomes active. If not, it moves to past due (MotoDealerHQ can set this to suspended instead). Ending a trial never deletes your data. See Plans and trials.

Tips #

• Sign up with the email of the person who will own the account. You can add more owners later by inviting them with the Tenant Owner role.
• Keep the web address short and close to your trading name. It appears in links until you connect your own domain.
• Choose the plan you expect to use. Trial plan changes are instant, so you can adjust later.

Permissions #

Limitations #